


Desert Storm: Winter Wonderland

by cabbages



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 23:52:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11771070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cabbages/pseuds/cabbages
Summary: Born and raised in Arizona, Chanyeol is used to the deadly summer heat. But that doesn’t mean he enjoys it. He longs to experience his first snowfall, having never seen or felt the fluffy ice crystals before. Today, as he takes refuge from the sweltering summer sun, Chanyeol daydreams of a blizzard passing over to extinguish the fire coursing through his veins.Then a stranger named Minseok knocks on his door.(Exogeddon Prompt #301)





	Desert Storm: Winter Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> WOOO IT'S FINALLY DONE! My first fest fic :') 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys and I hope I did the prompt justice :3

When Chanyeol woke that morning with the first rays of the sun, it was a cool and comfortable 70 degrees. The clock on his nightstand read 5:30, pretty typical of the time Chanyeol opened his eyes every day. Soft yellow light peeked in through the slits in the window curtains, leaving thin bands across the bed and climbing up the walls. Chanyeol stirred as he sensed the sudden increase in brightness behind his closed eyelids. Opening his eyes slowly, he squinted, getting his bearings straight as he sat up against the headboard and stretched his arms up to the sky.

 

"Good morning, Arizona," he said with a tranquil sigh. He placed his feet on the cool wooden floor underneath him. A small shiver zipped up his spine. "Please don't be too hot today."

 

It was only a matter of time before his quaint one room den became too hot to serve as a refuge from the oppressive heat outside. Chanyeol only had a few more hours before the temperature would begin to rise to uncomfortable levels, and soon after, unbearable. Just a few hours to fix his one and only air conditioner that had crapped out the night before. He was lucky a system of cool air had come down from the north a few days prior, otherwise he thought he would have sweat to death by now.

 

With a grunt Chanyeol plopped down on the barstool behind the kitchen counter. Laid before him were the disassembled pieces of his air conditioner's motor and a wrench. He stared at all the small bits of metal and ran a hand through his unkempt bed hair. He didn't consider himself an electrician or repairman in the slightest. In fact, Chanyeol had never touched the internal wiring of any kind of appliance in his life. Before moving out to the Middle of Nowhere, Arizona, as Chanyeol affectionately referred to his place of residence, he always lived relatively close to a larger town that would have at least one handyman. Ever since he had to move to be closer to his job, however, there was practically nothing around, so Chanyeol had to take matters into his own hands.

 

His stomach growled and the hunger pains drove him to postpone his project for the time being and instead search through the refrigerator for something to eat. The cool air hit his face and he stuck his head further into the fridge. One drawer held fruits, the other held vegetables. The drawer closest to the bottom contained eggs and lunch meat, which Chanyeol grabbed with the intention of making an egg, ham, and cheese sandwich. He brought his ingredients over to the kitchen counter. Reaching for the top of the fridge, he flipped the switch on a small brown box that was perched there.

 

The box, an old radio Chanyeol's grandfather had given him when he was a small child, crackled to life. _"Good morning southern Arizona!"_ it broadcasted cheerfully. _"You're listening to KNST 790 AM, NewsTalk 790. It's 6:05 am; sunrise was at 5:27 this morning, not too long ago. Currently it is a nice and cool 74 degrees Fahrenheit. Beautiful blue skies today, but if you're planning to work outside, best do it in the early morning and late afternoon, as it's going to get very hot! Let's turn it over to Scott for this week's forecast!"_

 

The ham sizzled and bubbled as it came into contact with the bottom of the hot buttered pan on the stove. Chanyeol hummed a preppy tune to himself as he listened to the weather and fished a spatula out of one of the top drawers.

 

_"Today it's going to get hot hot hot! High of 105, yikes! It might be 74 degrees now but it will climb quickly; by noon it will be around 90 degrees. Later on in the afternoon the temperature will taper off to the low 80s, and overnight it will be in the mid-to-low 60s."_

 

Chanyeol groaned internally. He didn't have much time to fix his air conditioning before he was going to melt. He quickly flipped the ham and began to butter two pieces of bread. It didn't matter if the ham wasn't heated evenly on both sides, he didn't want to overheat with a hot breakfast anyway, so he placed the ham on one slice of bread and began to grill the bread until it was golden brown just the way he liked it.

 

Sighing, he looked out the window and watched as a tumbleweed rolled lazily across the flat ground. There was nothing but sand for miles. The occasional cactus broke the monotony, but where Chanyeol lived it was so hot and dry that hardly any cacti or other desert-hardy vegetation could survive there. Day after day the temperatures exceeded 90 degrees and frequently rose above 100. Most days, it was too hot to function. Despite that, Chanyeol really did like Arizona—it was quiet and peaceful, with not too many people to bother him, and the scenery was nice if you were in the right place. But Chanyeol wasn't built to last in the heat, and this summer in particular was taking its toll on him.

 

He wished another cool front would come in and keep the temperatures around 75. He desperately needed a break from the hotter-than-average summer he'd been suffering through. But most of all, he longed for snow. He had never seen in it real life before. On TV and in the movies, sure. But never with his own two eyes. It was practically impossible for it to snow where he lived, deep in the middle of Arizona where the oppressive heat made it feel like hell on earth, but he still held out hope that someday he would get to witness the magic of snowfall.

_"-Reports are coming in from New Mexico about a freak snow storm that occurred earlier this week on Monday afternoon. This follows a series of similar reports from states further east. We first brought you this story when it was reported that six inches of snow fell in Virginia, and a few days later another 5 inches fell across Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. What makes this storm front strange is the fact that no such storm system has shown up on satellite radar! That and it's not supposed to snow during the middle of the summer! Meteorologists across the country are baffled at what could be causing this, since no other case has ever been observed before."_

 

Chanyeol flipped the sandwich in the air with ease, catching it expertly as it fell back into the pan. He set it back on the stove to continue cooking for a few more minutes as he listened closely to the radio. A freak snow storm in New Mexico? That wasn't too terribly far from where he lived. His house was situated a few hours outside of Sedona, nestled comfortably in the valley between two mountain ranges. If he looked out his window all he could see was relatively flat earth in all directions, with the blurry peaks of the mountains standing tall in the distance. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and as Chanyeol felt a flash of hotness spread across his entire body, he found it hard to believe that any kind of spontaneous snow storm could happen here.

 

_"Meteorologists are already reporting snowfall at the Grand Canyon and the system is rapidly moving south towards Flagstaff. Keep an eye on the sky and see if you spot any snow! If you do, make sure to call into the station so we can report it to the National Weather Service."_

 

The weather report ended and was followed by a recap of traffic patterns, then the morning playlist started. Chanyeol plated his egg, ham, and cheese sandwich and sat in his recliner by the window. He tapped his foot and moved his body to the beat of 80s rock as he hungrily devoured his breakfast. Another tumbleweed rolled by—off in the distance, an encircling white-tailed hawk landed on the top branch of an old, dead mesquite tree.

 

Chanyeol sighed contently. He loved being able to wake up with the sun and have breakfast while observing nature from the comforts of his home. Everything was so quiet and peaceful; had he known this was what life would be like in the desert, he would've moved sooner. The overwhelming heat was only a minor downside, really. He could handle 80 degree weather no problem. It was when it exceeded 95 that Chanyeol began to regret his life choices. But for now, everything was just the way he liked it, so when his favorite song began to play, he couldn't help but sing along.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Breakfast passed and the temperature quickly rose until Chanyeol's forehead and neck were gleaming with sweat. As he sat at his kitchen counter, anxiously fiddling with the broken AC motor bits, he realized he might not fix it in time for the real heat to arrive. He reached for his shirt, which was balled up on the chair beside him, and used it to wipe the sweat off his brow. He had ditched the shirt about a half an hour ago after it had gotten too damp to continue to wear comfortably. Now he sat at the table wearing only shorts, but it was getting so unbearably hot that soon he thought those might have to go as well.

 

At some point Chanyeol had decided to switch from the radio to the television. He keep it on The Weather Channel and listened intently as the team of meteorologists tracked reports of snowfall as it continued south through the state. The snow storm itself never actually appeared on radar, which baffled everyone, Chanyeol included, considering he knew next to nothing about the technical side of weather reporting, so the reporters only had testimonials to go off of. People were reporting several inches of snow in Flagstaff and reports were coming in that Sedona had now begun to see the unfamiliar flakes falling from the sky.

 

But when Chanyeol looked out the window, all he saw were clear blue skies. He turned back to his task at hand, disappointed, but still holding out hope that snow would come.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Noon rolled around soon after. As Chanyeol expected, he still hadn't finished repairing the air conditioning unit. At one point it looked as if he had fixed it, but after putting everything back together and turning it on, something inside rattled and fell to the floor. It rolled somewhere and no matter where Chanyeol looked, he hadn't been able to find it yet.

 

He hauled himself up from the floor with a groan. Well, the missing part wasn't under the bed, that was for sure. Chanyeol sighed, falling back into his recliner. His stomach rumbled loudly and he suddenly remembered that it was lunchtime. But he was so hot and so sluggish that he couldn't muster up the willpower to peel himself off of the chair. Instead, he closed his eyes, telling himself he'd only take a cat nap to regain his strength and then make himself something refreshing for lunch.

 

He didn't know how long he was out, but the rapid knocking on his front door jolted Chanyeol out of his sleep and he fell out of his chair and onto the floor. The floor was cool against his skin and he sighed at the relief it brought him, but when the knocking began again he grumbled to himself as he slowly pulled himself up, forehead feeling faint with hunger.

 

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he yelled. Who the hell was out in the middle of nowhere at this time of day? It was practically two o'clock; the hottest part of the day hadn't even come and gone yet.

 

Slowly, Chanyeol opened his front door, squinting as the bright desert sunlight blinded him momentarily. After the sun rose and he had breakfast he always closed the curtains around the house to keep the inside cool. As a result, compared to outside, the house was practically pitch black.

 

When Chanyeol's eyes adjusted, he was greeted with the sight of a short man with black hair. "Hello?" he asked. He looked the man up and down; he couldn't have been older than 25. His black hair was sticking out from underneath a soft looking beanie and sweat was sliding down the side of his face like a leaky faucet. Chanyeol wondered how he still managed to wear a hat when it was clear he was dying from the oppressive heat. "Can I help you?"

 

The man gave him a tired smile. "Sorry to pop up randomly like this. I'm out traveling but got a little overwhelmed by the heat. I was wondering if it was alright to come into the shade and cool off for a bit before I head out again."

 

Chanyeol leaned across the threshold of the door, peering out behind the stranger. He scanned his eyes across the plains but saw nothing. "Did you drive here?" The stranger shook his head. Chanyeol's jaw fell open in disbelief. "You walked all the way here?!" When the stranger nodded, Chanyeol practically shoved him into the house. "I'll get you a glass of ice water right away."

 

"Thank you so much...I really appreciate...it," the man said as he staggered over to kitchen counter and collapsed onto one of the barstools. His mouth gaped open as he panted and he took off his hat with one hand while he fanned himself weakly with the other. When Chanyeol placed a glass of ice water in front of him he snatched it immediately and greedily gulped the entire thing down in a matter of seconds.

 

Chanyeol looked on with wide eyes. "...More?" he asked as soon as the man put the glass back down.

 

He nodded gratefully. "Please."

 

After the man had downed another three glasses of water, he leaned back in his chair with a content sigh. "Thank you so much," he said. The room fell silent. He looked around awkwardly, avoiding looking at Chanyeol completely. "Uh, my name is Minseok, by the way. Thank you for letting me into your home,"

 

Chanyeol gave him a friendly smile. "It's no problem. Besides, there aren't any houses around for a good couple of miles. I couldn't possibly turn you away in this heat." As if on cue, they both wiped the sweat from their foreheads. "If you don't mind me asking, what on earth were you doing walking around in the middle of the desert?! You could've died!"

 

Minseok laughed shortly. "Aha...about that...well, I've been traveling across the country, and it's been going pretty well so far. My car broke down a little while ago and there was nobody around to help so I just kind of picked a direction and walked...?" He shrugged. "I should probably plan my trips better next time..."

 

"Where were before you ended up here? Ah," Chanyeol shook his head before more questions could spill from his mouth. "I don't mean to pry."

 

"It's fine! I was up at the Grand Canyon earlier this morning and passed through Flagstaff and Sedona a while ago. I'm on my way towards Prescott and eventually San Diego."

 

Chanyeol gazed at him in awe. "Does that mean you saw the snowfall?! What was it like?" He was practically jumping up and down with excitement. Minseok smiled brightly but still avoided looking at Chanyeol, which he thought was strange but he decided not to pay it any mind.

 

"Well, I've seen plenty of snow in my life, so it wasn't anything special. Although it was pretty neat to see snow in the desert during the middle of the summer."

 

"I heard people were calling it armageddon or the apocalypse. But I doubt it's anything serious." Chanyeol sighed. "I hope it snows here. I've never seen snow before."

 

Minseok perked up, finally looking at Chanyeol. "Ever?"

 

Chanyeol shook his head. "Never ever. I've only ever lived where it's ridiculously hot."

 

Suddenly, his stomach growled, and he realized he had not gotten around to eating lunch. When he looked down to pat his stomach he also realized that he wasn't wearing a shirt and was exposing his slight chubby tummy to a complete stranger. Face flushing with embarassment, he quickly walked over to his closet and pulled out a random shirt, throwing it over his head and mentally cursing as he already felt ten degrees hotter after the fabric covered his skin.

 

"Um, are you hungry?" he asked when he re-entered the kitchen. Minseok saw that he was now wearing a shirt and a look of relief washed over his face. He could finally look at Chanyeol without feeling awkward for accidentally staring at his bare chest. Thinking for a moment, he patted his stomach, as if the action would somehow tell him whether or not he needed to eat.

 

"I could go for a bite," he finally decided. He reached for his glass again, taking a small sip now that he was sufficiently hydrated and not feeling like he was going to burst into flames. "As long as you're okay with it. I feel bad for barging in and drinking all your water and eating your food."

 

Chanyeol laughed as he began to rummage through the refrigerator. "No worries, dude. And hey, I appreciate the company. It can get a little lonely out here sometimes." With his head still inside the fridge, he reached behind him and held up a bowl filled with fresh iceburg lettuce. "Salad okay?" he asked as he continued to rifle through the vegetable drawer. "I figured something cold and refreshing would be better,"

 

"I'm fine with anything," his guest replied with a polite smile.

 

Chanyeol brought out some carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes, then got to work preparing two salads. As he rinsed the lettuce and placed equal amounts in each bowl, he eyed the window and noticed the sky was beginning to cloud over. Excitement bubbled in his chest. Could this be the mysterious storm system that would dump a few inches of glorious snow right in his front yard? Would he finally be able to witness the magic of snowfall and have his very own winter wonderland in the middle of the desert? Chanyeol didn't want to get his hopes up, after all, it could just be a rare passing shower, but he also didn't want to dismiss the possibility either.

 

"Looks like the sky is getting cloudy," he commented. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Minseok swivel in his chair to peer out the window.

 

"So it is," his guest replied, sounding rather amused. When he turned around again he spotted a piece of metal on the ground and bent down to pick it up. "What's this bolt for?"

 

"You found it?!" Chanyeol questioned, bewildered. "I've been looking for that stupid piece all afternoon!"

 

"What does it go to?"

 

"The air conditioning unit. It broke last night and I've been trying to fix it all day. Though come to think of it," Chanyeol put the knife he was using to slice the tomatoes down. He took a pensive pause, eyes moving across the room, squinted in deep thought. "It doesn't feel that hot in here anymore. If anything it feels a bit...chilly?"

 

Minseok gave a peculiar grin. "Perhaps that snow storm is coming faster than we think,"

 

Chanyeol chuckled. "God, I wish it would snow. Then I could go out and make a snowman like I've always seen them do in the movies."

 

Leaning forward, Minseok held his chin in his palms. "So you've never really seen snow, huh?" He cocked his head to the side, a sly grin spreading across his face. Chanyeol shook his head in response.

 

"Only on television. Never with my own two eyes. Snow to me is this mystical thing that only a select few get to experience."

 

"But you knew that moving out to Arizona, there would be no snow, right? It's too hot out here for it."

 

He shrugged. "I really do like Arizona. It's nice and peaceful out here—it's just me and nature most of the time. But sometimes it just gets too hot and you seek refuge, you know?" Chanyeol gazed at his broken air conditioner and sighed. "Air conditioning can only do so much. Sometimes to take relief from one extreme, you need to experience the opposite." He laughed then, an almost child-like giggle, and quickly covered his mouth with his hands. "When it gets super hot like it has been recently, I sometimes dream of a blizzard passing through during the night and I'll wake up to three feet of snow outside my window."

 

They fell into a comfortable silence then. Minseok sighed pleasantly as he was handed his bowl of salad. Chanyeol eyed his guest as they ate quietly. Something was off about Minseok. He seemed like he knew more than he was letting on. About what, Chanyeol had no idea, but the way he kept smiling mischievously and glancing out the window every five seconds gave Chanyeol somewhat of a bad feeling. In the back of his mind, he suddenly wondered, _this is how all the murder movies start, isn't it...you let a stranger into your home and they act all nice, then the next thing you know, you're dead._

 

"Can I have another glass of ice water?" Minseok suddenly asked, pushing his glass across the counter. Chanyeol blinked, snapping himself out of his paranoid musings, and took the glass without question and brought it to the fridge. "Extra ice, please," Taking the glass once Chanyeol set it down again, Minseok smiled gratefully and finished the entire cup in three gulps. He stood up from his chair abruptly, pushing it back and causing the legs to scrape against the floor with a rather unpleasant screech, and suddenly made for the front door. "Come on," he said, and Chanyeol looked after him with unease. "I want to show you something."

 

Chanyeol followed, albeit reluctantly, and stepped out of the house and into the desert. Immediately he was struck with just how freezing it was outside. The sky had clouded over significantly and it seemed as if the gray blanket stretched endlessly. When he finally let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, he watched as it billowed out and swirled upwards towards the sky in a translucent puff of water vapor. The mountain tops in the distance already appeared to be capped with white, and as Chanyeol began to shiver he couldn't quite tell if it was because of the cold or his growing excitement. He looked to Minseok, who had his head upturned to the sky, eyes closed and a smile on his face.

 

"You said you've never seen snow in real life before," Minseok stated. "Well," he turned to Chanyeol, eyes glinting with delight. "here it is," He clapped his hands excitedly and then crossed his arms, waiting.

 

At first nothing happened. The two of them stood there in silence for a few moments, waiting for something, anything. Chanyeol looked around awkwardly. "Uh, I'm not entirely sure what's supposed to be happening right now,"

 

Minseok shushed him. "Just give it a sec,"

 

"But nothing is-"

 

And then he saw it. In his peripheral vision he watched as a speck of white floated lazily to the ground. When he looked up, hundreds of misshapen dots were falling towards him slowly. A single snowflake landed on Chanyeol's nose and he went cross-eyed in attempts to look at it, but as soon as it had hit his skin, it vanished. Instead, all it left behind was a cold, wet droplet.

 

Chanyeol looked at Minseok, beaming from ear to ear. "This is amazing!" he said as he held out his palms to the sky and looked on with wonder as snowflakes landed and subsquently melted on his warm skin. Minseok only answered him with a satisfied and rather smug looking grin.

 

Soon, the snowfall started to pick up. The flakes had grown considerably in size and now they were pelting down so fast it was difficult to see anything more than about ten feet away. The mountains in the distance had disappeared completely in a blur of white. On the ground, a decent coating of snow had already accumulated. Chanyeol moved the snow around with his foot, creating a semi circle where he could see the sand again. Within ten minutes the bare spot was already covered with the white fluffy substance. The storm didn't look like it was letting up any time soon, and Chanyeol was in no rush for it to stop.

 

All around him, the air was still. It was strange to think, considering there was snow falling all around him, but Chanyeol could sense that the space between each snowflake was in a state of calm. Though he could still see his breath in the air, he no longer felt cold. The snowflakes and the air touching his exposed skin didn't make him uncomfortable; in fact, he could probably stay outside for a while and not even need a jacket. The snow falling around him, glistening on the ground and sparkling as it fell through the air caused a quiet peacefulness to settle within his chest. Chanyeol couldn't recall a time where he had felt such tranquility and oneness with nature, nor could he recall the last time he had felt a happiness as raw and as powerful as this.

 

Snow stuck to his eyelashes and made them heavy. It coated his hair and changed its color from jet black to dazzling white. His arms sparkled with the remnants of melted snowflakes. As Chanyeol turned his face towards the sky, closing his eyes and feeling the soft ice crystals land on his skin, he could only think one thing.

 

This wasn't the apocalypse.

 

This was heaven.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A few hours later, almost a foot of snow covered the ground for miles. Inside Chanyeol's den, the stove was on and Chanyeol was cooking soup for dinner in an effort to warm up not only himself and his guest, but also his house. Heating wasn't a problem in the desert, but of course no one would ever expect a snow storm to pass over and cause the temperature to plummet, so suddenly a lack of heat was a bad thing.

 

Chanyeol shivered as he held his hands over the boiling pot of chicken stock and rubbed them together. "Don't get me wrong," he said as Minseok looked at him with raised eyebrows and a cheeky grin, "I still like the snow. The cold is refreshing for about ten minutes, but I've had enough. If I could have the snow without the ridiculously freezing temperatures, that would be great."

 

Minseok laughed. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that."

 

"Aren't you cold?"

 

Chanyeol had thrown on three t-shirts and wrapped the thin blanket he kept on his bed around his shoulders. Minseok, on the other hand, was still only wearing a short sleeved shirt and the beanie he had arrived in was nowhere to be found. While Chanyeol's teeth chattered uncontrollably, his guest sat perfectly still like the cold didn't bother him at all.

 

Minseok shrugged. "I'm used to it, I guess."

 

Chanyeol didn't bother questioning it and handed him a bowl of steaming hot soup. "Eat up," he instructed. He took his own bowl and sat on the barstool next to Minseok behind the counter. Digging in, he sighed in relief as the hot liquid filled his stomach and made him feel warm all over. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Minseok smiling contently as he slurped his soup. "It's an old family recipe. I hope I did it justice,"

 

"It's delicious, thank you."

 

When the two of them finished their meals, it was too dark to go back outside. Chanyeol was a little upset by that realization but decided to use this to his advantage and play one of his favorite Christmas movies. He dug around through his DVD collection and finally pulled out a case from the bottom of the box. Bounding over to his television, he turned on the DVD player and stuck the disk in, clapping with glee as the title came up on screen.

 

Minseok made a face. "This movie has always scared me."

 

" _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?_ Really??"

 

He shrugged. "The stop motion is just so unnatural. And the Abominable Snowman was terrifying as a kid. Hey!" he whined when he caught Chanyeol snickering behind a pillow. "Don't judge me!" Outside, a powerful gust of wind beat against the windows. Chanyeol cowered further behind his pillow and sunk into the couch. Minseok chuckled. "You actually like this movie?"

 

"It's my favorite! But if you don't want to watch it...we can pick something...else..." Chanyeol trailed off, grumbling with feigned annoyance. He couldn't help but crack a smile as Minseok laughed and hit the pillow he was holding. Without thinking, he let out a loud sigh. "Ah, I'm so happy. I don't know what it is."

 

"I can imagine the snow had something to do with it,"

 

"You think?"

 

Minseok scoffed. "I don't think. I know. It's like I'm witnessing a dog seeing snow for the first time. Or," he burst out laughing. "Baby's first Christmas,"

 

Chanyeol couldn't contain his giggles and soon the room was filled with loud bellowing laughter. Minseok wiped away tears as Chanyeol slowly regained his composure and instead began to whine about the bullying he was receiving. It was only when the opening scene of the movie started to play that Chanyeol finally managed to quiet down.

 

"Shh, the movie is starting!" Minseok scolded.

 

"I thought you didn't like this movie?!"

 

_"Shh!"_

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chanyeol awoke to the sound of soft snoring. Blinking, he looked around slowly, trying to get his bearings straight. The television showed credits rolling down the screen as Santa Claus flew around in the background delivering presents. Chanyeol yawned, stretching his arms high above his head, and checked the clock on the wall. It was 11 o'clock, a little later than Chanyeol usually went to bed but the nap he just took made up for it. He hopped off the couch and turned off the television. He must have slept through the entire movie because he didn't remember watching more than just the opening scene. _Oh well,_ he thought tiredly, _I've seen it so many times that I could probably recite the entire script in my sleep._

 

As he turned around to go turn off all the lights and get ready for bed, he spotted Minseok sound asleep in the recliner by the window. He looked a tad cold, if the way he curled in on himself and tried to warm his toes with his hands was any indication, so Chanyeol (somewhat reluctantly) slowly removed the blanket from around his own shoulders and placed it over his guest, careful not to accidentally wake him. Minseok shifted slightly but was otherwise undisturbed. Smiling lightly to himself, Chanyeol quickly brushed his teeth, changed into his pajamas while trying not to freeze to death, then turned off the lights and hopped into bed.

 

Being enveloped in the warmth and comfort of his bed was a luxury shortlived, however, because six hours passed quickly and the next thing Chanyeol knew, he was waking to the sound of raindrops hitting his windowsill and blinding sun beams hitting directly across his eyelids. He groaned, rolling over and promptly tangling himself in his bedsheets and comforter, which he thought would save him from falling off the edge of his bed. In reality, it did absolutely nothing, and he ended up falling rather ungracefully onto his face. A low moan of pain escaped him and caused Minseok, who had woken up just minutes beforehand and had witnessed the entire thing, to let out a single burst of laughter which he instantly stifled by clapping a hand over his mouth.

 

"Sorry," he sniggered, and came over to help Chanyeol stand up. Chanyeol pouted but allowed himself to be lifted from the floor. Minseok sat him back on the edge of the bed and cringed when he saw the swollen state of Chanyeol's nose. "I'll get you some ice..."

 

Chanyeol placed a hand over his heart. "Is it bad, doc?" He lifted a hand to wipe away a nonexistent tear. "How long do I have?"

 

"'Tis but a flesh wound," Minseok replied, and Chanyeol laughed.

 

"Thanks," he said when he was handed a bag of frozen peas. He held it close to his nose, hissing when it came into contact with his skin. He sighed heavily. "What a way to start the day,"

 

His guest cracked a smile. "Could be worse," he offered, but Chanyeol only gave him an unamused stare.

 

Suddenly, a thought came to mind. "How much snow is on the ground now?" Chanyeol asked. Minseok peered out the window.

 

"Looks like two feet, but it's already melting."

 

Chanyeol frowned. "I need to make a snowman before all the snow is gone."

 

"Then you better hurry,"

 

"Won't you help me?"

 

Minseok looked down at his watch. "I need to head out soon. I have a flight to catch in California."

 

"It won't take that long to build a snowman. Please?" Chanyeol whined and batted his eyes. "Do you wanna build a-"

 

"If you don't finish that sentence then consider it done," Minseok interrupted hotly.

 

Chanyeol grinned wickedly. "Perfect."

 

He quickly got dressed and made breakfast for the both of them. When they were ready, they headed outside, where the weather was back to its usual self. The snow on the roof was melting rapidly and spilling over the gutters in a steady stream. Even though there was so much snow on the ground, it wasn't going to last long with the temperatures projected to rise well above 90 degrees by the afternoon. Just the thought had Chanyeol feeling blue, so he tried to focus on the task at hand instead to distract himself.

 

Minseok squatted down, gathering some snow into his hand and packing it into a dense ball. He rubbed his hands over it, making sure to smooth out any lumps and bumps until the snowball was a perfect sphere. He held up his handiwork and Chanyeol stared in awe.

 

"Wet snow is perfect for making snowballs," Minseok explained, "because it's easier for the snow to stick together. If you try to make a snowball with dry, fluffy snow, it won't work." He threw the ball at Chanyeol, who failed to dodge it in time and got hit in the leg.

 

"Yah!" he exclaimed. He stooped down to make his own snowball and was promptly hit in the head.

 

Minseok snickered. "Snowball fight later. Snowman first." He fell to his knees and began gathering the snow around him into a ball. He packed it together, adding more snow as it began to get bigger, until it got the the point where it could be pushed. When he was satisfied with the beginnings of their snowman, he waved Chanyeol over. "We're gonna push this around and pick up more snow. This is gonna be the bottom of the snowman."

 

Chanyeol bounded over excitedly and the two of them got to work. They stood side by side, each with their hands on the snowball, pushing it around the front yard. In no time the once small snowball had tripled its size and became too heavy to move. Minseok instructed Chanyeol to make a second ball, this one roughly two-thirds the size of the first, while he spent his time smoothing out the base to make it perfectly round. Chanyeol happily obliged and set out to another part of the yard where the snow was still undisturbed.

 

While Chanyeol worked, all he could think of was the pure happiness he felt in that moment. Fresh, crisp morning air entered his lungs as he breathed deeply through his nose. The sound of the melting snow as it dripped from the roof and splashed onto the ground was a soothing white noise that made Chanyeol feel at peace. The crunch of snow underneath his boots was a sound he didn't know could be so satisfying, and yet it was like music to his ears, as if a chorus of angels had descended from heaven to give him his own person concert.

 

The cold seeping through his gloves chilled his hands but he didn't mind. He finished rolling the second ball and picked it up to bring it to Minseok. The thing was _heavy,_ and halfway through his journey the snowball became too much to bear and it slipped through his grasp, falling to the ground and shattering into a pile of fluff instantly.

 

Minseok watched as Chanyeol stared at the ground, devastation written all over his face which vaguely reminded him of a child that dropped his ice cream and was on the verge of tears. It was a sad sight but he couldn't help but chuckle. Finished with the base of the snowman, Minseok pushed himself off the ground and walked not more than ten paces before he fell to his knees again next to the taller man.

 

"I dropped it," Chanyeol said blankly. "It was all finished and I dropped it." He felt Minseok pat his shoulder comfortingly.

 

"It's just snow. Here," he took Chanyeol's hands and used them to scoop up the snow again. "We can always redo it. No problem, right?"

 

"Yeah..." Chanyeol mumbled. His face felt like it was on fire. Which was weird, since the temperature wasn't even that high yet. And Minseok's grip felt really soft and comfortable...Chanyeol snapped out of his thoughts when said pair of hands suddenly disappeared and he looked up in time to see his guest walking away with a brand new snowball like nothing had even happened. He stuck it on top of the first and began to smooth it out just like he had done last time.

 

"Can you make the last one?" he called to Chanyeol.

 

Nodding dumbly, Chanyeol gathered enough to snow to make yet a smaller snowball and this time was extra careful when he brought it over to Minseok, even though it was significantly lighter than the others. He placed it atop the second ball and stepped back to admire their handiwork.

 

"Now we gotta decorate it right?" he asked. Minseok nodded excitedly. "I think I still have some carrots in the fridge and some old buttons that I'll never use." He disappeared into the house, searching for the items he wanted, and quickly reemerged, arms full of supplies. "I uh, only had baby carrots," he confessed with a grimace, "so Frosty is gonna have a stumpy nose."

 

Chanyeol gave the carrot to Minseok, who stuck it into the top snowball and failed to contain his snickers. The nose was so small and disproportionate to the rest of the snowman, but it oddly seemed to fit the overall image. It had the two of them cracking up as they added the buttons for eyes and a few for a small smile which had an uncanny likeness to the Mona Lisa.

 

"What do you think?" Minseok asked once they had finished their masterpiece.

 

Chanyeol took a moment to admire the structure with pride. "I love it. The small nose is a really nice touch."

 

"Speaking of noses, how does yours feel?"

 

Without thinking, he scrunched his nose up. Surprisingly, there was only a tiny flare of pain. "Not too bad," he replied. "I think those frozen peas really helped,"

 

"That's good," Minseok smiled. Suddenly, he looked down at his watch. "Shit, I really need to get going." He began to speedwalk back to the house, Chanyeol hot on his heels.

 

"But you walked all the way here, remember?" Chanyeol called after him as Minseok started to gather the little possessions he arrived with. As he shoved his beanie onto his head, Chanyeol intervened and stopped him. "You can't just walk through the middle of the desert when it's already past nine. Do you know how hot it's supposed to get today? You could die out there!" Minseok moved to step away, but Chanyeol blocked him. "Let me drive you. It's the least I can do."

 

"The least you can do? You already did enough by letting me stay here for a day. That's more than I could ever ask for. Besides," he began to move for the door. This time, Chanyeol didn't stop him. "I couldn't possibly ask you to drive me almost five hundred miles. I'll be fine, really." He paused. "All I ask is for a couple bottles of water and a bag of ice, if you have one."

 

"Are you insane?"

 

Minseok shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time someone's told me that." He gave Chanyeol the widest, toothiest smile he could muster. "Really, thank you so much for taking me in and letting me stay for the night. This was the most fun I've had in a while."

 

"Please let me drive you," Chanyeol pleaded. He put on his best puppy eyes even though he was sure the worry etched into his face was painfully evident. "I can't let you walk out into the desert like this."

 

"Trust me, I'll be fine."

 

They were quiet for a moment. Chanyeol stared at Minseok hard, hoping that given enough of a disapproving look he would crack, but his guest held strong. Finally, Chanyeol had no choice but to relent. "Okay," he said with a defeated sigh. "But if some stranger finds your corpse in the middle of nowhere later on, I can't be blamed."

 

Minseok looked smug. "I'll make sure to carry a note in my pocket just in case,"

 

While Minseok went outside, Chanyeol gathered the items he requested. He grabbed four water bottles from his fridge and put them into a small insulated backpack he used to use for hiking. It had been years since he had last used it, and figuring he would never use it again, he had no problem giving it to someone else. He placed two small bags of ice in there as well, and even slipped a few granola bars from his personal stash in the cupboard. Satisfied with his goodie bag, he slung it over his shoulder and met up with Minseok outside, who stood, hands on his hips, regarding their snowman with a sad smile.

 

"Here's a little something for the road," Chanyeol said, handing the bag to Minseok. Quickly, before he could convince himself not to, he enveloped the shorter man into a bear hug. At first Minseok did nothing, but after the initial shock wore off he chuckled and hugged Chanyeol back just as tightly.

 

"I'm glad I got to experience my first snowfall with you," Chanyeol mumbled. He didn't know what it was about this stranger, but meeting him had felt like fate. His arrival in Chanyeol's life opened him up to experiences he had never had the pleasure of enjoying before. It seemed strange to become attached to someone he didn't even know as quickly as he did, but he supposed that some people just get along better than others, and he and Minseok had gone from strangers to old childhood friends over the course of a single day and night. He was going to miss Minseok, and the realization that he would probably never see him again made Chanyeol not want to let him go.

 

"If you ever happen to be in the neighborhood again, well, you know where I am," he added. "Visit again if you can,"

 

Minseok finally pulled away, much to Chanyeol's reluctance, and smiled, his eyes disappearing into half-moons. "Thank you for letting me be a part of your world for a bit. I'm sure I'll be back here someday." He winked. "Next time, we can make an igloo,"

 

Chanyeol laughed. "I'm looking forward to it, definitely."

 

Minseok turned around then, and headed in the direction he had originally came. Trudging through the snow with his backpack secured loosely around his shoulders, he made his way across the desert, stopping a ways out to turn around and wave at Chanyeol.

 

Chanyeol waved back, a sadness lingering in his chest that he knew would stick around for the rest of the day. He stood in the threshold of his front door, watching Minseok walk away until he was just a small black smudge against the white ground and blue sky. A little while after that and Minseok had vanished completely.

 

Sighing, Chanyeol retreated back into the darkness of his house. He took off his gloves, wiping his sweaty palms on his shorts, the temperature already around 80 degrees and climbing rapidly. For a moment Chanyeol simply stood in his kitchen, thinking about Minseok, wondering if he was doing okay out in the heat and reminiscing about the events of the past day, before finally reaching above the refrigerator and turning on the radio. He walked over to the other side of the counter and picked up the bolt Minseok had found on the ground. His wrench lay close by on the windowsill, so he took it and got to work finally fixing the air conditioning unit.

 

_"You're listening to KNST 790 AM, NewsTalk 790. Did you see all the snow we got overnight? Meteorologists measured it out to be approximately twenty-three and a half inches of snow that fell between three o'clock yesterday afternoon and 2 o'clock this morning. I'll tell you Jeff, it was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. I still can't believe it actually happened. Of course, temps across the state are hovering around 85 and are expected to hit a high of 102 later this afternoon. The snow won't last, so savor it while you can!"_

 

Chanyeol finished tightening the bolt in place. With his fingers crossed behind his back, he turned the knob to "on" and the air conditioner lit up like a beacon of hope in an empty field. Chanyeol, in that moment, was glad that Minseok was not there, because he almost teared up with joy when the first puff off cool air blew in his face. He stood up triumphantly and looked out the window at the glistening snow, pretending it was actually chilly Arctic air that was freezing his nose and burning his cheeks—he liked to believe that the snow would last and he could remain in his own desert wonderland for just a little while longer, because he knew he would never experience something as magical as his first snow ever again. Closing his eyes, he thought back to yesterday as he gazed up in wonder at the falling snow, and then of earlier that morning when he built his very first snowman. He smiled peacefully.

 

By four o'clock that afternoon, all of the snow was gone.


End file.
